Teaching for Social Justice and Responsibility Annual CIEL Conference

What does it look like to teach for social justice and responsibility in a progressive college? What do the CIEL schools have to share with others in higher education about the innovative practices and philosophy associated with an engaged and activist agenda? These were the questions that animated discussions at the annual fall meeting of the Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning, held at Daemen College in Buffalo, New York, from October 13 – 15. Claiming a public space for higher education emerged as a central theme. Each campus, through the development of various service learning projects, community outreach projects, action research projects, and applied learning, is expressing a core commitment to community engagement and reciprocity as an expression of civic responsibility and an acknowledgement of the special role of higher education in American society.

Conference presentations showed that a social action agenda reflected a number of shifts in relationships among faculty, students, and with both local and global communities:

• A pragmatic sense of contributing to community well-being through collaborative work with community agencies and individuals
• An emphasis on educating students for making real contributions to the well-being of others through programmatic, collaborative planning and execution
• The development of a critical perspective on social issues not through detachment from the community but through active engagement
• A commitment to tangible outcomes from community work that helps communities help themselves
• A greater emphasis on faculty collaboration with each other – often through team teaching, with the network of campus offices, with students, and with community agencies to accomplish long term projects within communities, and a more nuanced understanding of the trust and vulnerability required of these more public roles
• A challenge to the traditionally individualistic focus of liberal arts goals in favor of education for the public good and an expanded definition of what it means to live and work in a democratic society
• The development of a greater sense of personal agency among students by providing them with more choices in how to think about questions of social justice, especially in an ideologically charged environment
• Above all, an approach to education and community assistance that replaces random acts of kindness in favor of focused, targeted, long term, and sustained change and development

Some examples of campus projects include:

• Community archeology projects at New College to preserve local historical sites, particularly those that reflect the history of otherwise marginalized or silenced community members
• Community mapping using GIS technology at the Gallatin School of NYU to show the power of democratizing data
• Community service projects at Daemen College that emphasize sustainability through advancing literacy and economic access, both locally and at study abroad locations, through work with community advisory committees

Social Justice and Social Responsibility: CIEL Book Project

One of the goals of the fall meeting was to assemble a writing team for a book on teaching social justice and responsibility. Though any number of campuses is involved in service learning projects, there is not an extensive literature on teaching and curriculum-building. Much of this activity is in the student services sector, often treated as an add-on or a special graduation requirement based on accumulated hours of service. A significant number of participants at the meeting were interested in contributing to such a work, and various pieces of writing are in process. A CIEL blackboard link is soon to be initiated that can be accessed through the CIEL website (www.cielearn.org). An editorial committee will guide the project, and you can contact any of the members as follows: Marie Eaton of Fairhaven College (marie.eaton@wwu.edu), Stephanie Levin of Hampshire College (slevin @hampshire.edu), Teri McMurtry-Chubb of Fairhaven College (teri.mcmurtry-chubb@wwu.edu), and Mary Fox of Daemen College (mfox@daemen.edu). The book will be oriented around such themes as theoretical, political, and social issues underlying teaching for social justice and responsibility, classroom pedagogy, experiential learning, and outcomes research.

Fall 2006 Meeting

Next fall’s meeting will continue the theme of Teaching for Social Justice and Responsibility. Participants at this year’s meeting wanted an opportunity to sustain and deepen the rich conversations of the Fall 2005 meeting into next year. One question we are hoping to take up is how the innovative missions and organizational structures of the CIEL schools allow for greater student engagement in issues of social justice beyond the service learning work of more traditional campuses. Implicit in that question are two others: 1) what are we achieving with the various social justice/responsibility projects on our campuses? and 2) how do we know that what we are doing is making a difference for students and their communities? To that end, we invite faculty to develop relevant action research projects, both methodological and outcomes-oriented, for presentation at next fall’s meeting.

Hermit Crab Classifieds: Shell Exchange

The hermit crab is a misunderstood species whose name suggests a life of isolated independence when in reality hermit crabs depend upon each other for continued vitality. Hermit crabs need properly fitting shells for growth, protection from predators, and reproduction. Periodically, hermit crabs vacate their old shells when they become too small and move into new shells, vacated by other hermit crabs. Finding and exchanging shells is a preoccupation among hermit crabs, often resulting in an intricately choreographed lineup of hermit crabs by size, whereby the largest crab vacates its shell to find a bigger one; the next crab in line takes the newly vacated shell, leaving its shell for the next crab in line, and so on in a vacancy chain. This is a precise and speedy process that minimizes the crab’s exposure to danger while outside its shell.

Why are we talking about this? Because like hermit crabs, the CIEL schools are a highly unique species, and vacating positions through sabbaticals and other leave-taking patters in favor of finding a temporary new position might be said to resemble the vacancy chain of hermit crabs. The trick is to make this process precise and speedy to minimize risk and maximize payoff. CIEL is introducing its own version of the hermit crab shell exchange to help faculty – and their campuses – locate temporary new shells when faculty take a leave from their old ones at their home institutions for purposes of professional growth. Arguably, when we return from a particularly rich leave, we don’t quite fit the old shell anymore.

The CIEL newsletter can facilitate the shell exchange process by posting vacancies on member campuses, sabbatical replacement openings, or general inquiries about faculty exchange opportunities. The newsletter will regularly offer a classified list of available shells to faculty on all the campuses. Please notify Karen Spear (spear@lorenet.com) of openings on your campuses or to convey expressions of interest in faculty exchange. One of the primary goals of the Consortium is facilitating faculty exchange among member institutions. While hermit crabs expend a great deal of energy lugging around their old shells and finding new ones, the CIEL shell exchange may make our process more productive and less time-consuming to find a shell that fits right.

Upcoming CIEL Activities

Senior Thesis Evaluation:
Most CIEL campuses require a senior thesis or some other extended project as the culmination of students’ academic careers. The question is, what do the best samples of such writing look like? What should we be aiming for in terms of the quality of such projects? In June, representatives from several CIEL campuses will assemble in Chicago to review sample papers in an effort to benchmark levels of student achievement. The project should be helpful to individual campuses as faculty try to articulate their expectations to students and external groups such as accrediting agencies. Dean Steve Weisler of Hampshire College is sponsoring this project.

American Association of Colleges and Universities Panel Presentation
CIEL has achieved a consistent presence at the AAC&U national meetings. In January, the consortium will present a panel entitled “Globalizing Liberal Education: Perspectives from Three Innovative Liberal Arts Colleges” featuring developments in global education at Pitzer College, Daemen College, and Hampshire College. Hampshire College has developed a program that looks at global migrations and has instituted a new Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement. Pitzer College has moved to helping students work in a “third space” in the intersection of global studies with domestic social responsibility, linking its extensive study abroad curriculum with social change initiatives in the local community. Daemen College has globalized its curriculum with a heavy emphasis on sustainability. Ed Clausen, Academic Vice President at Daemen College, Carol Brandt, Vice President for International Programs, Steve Weisler, Dean of Academic Development at Hampshire College, and Karen Spear, Executive Director of CIEL, will constitute the panel. The meeting will be held in Washington, D. C.